My favorite prequel edits are Q2’s Fall of the Jedi Trilogy. Hands down. No contest.
Fall of the Jedi Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HesmWVhuTg4
My prefered “Extended Edition” cuts of the prequels are Hal9000’s edits.
It works because Padme’s fate is the same in both (meaning she lives long enough for Leia to remember her in Return of the Jedi).
I like Q2’s because he does a great job making revelations in the Original Trilogy fairly spoiler-free when watching in chronological order. This means, among other things, that the last we see of Anakin before the end of Episode III, he was burning to death on the side of a lava flow. Also, he removes most of the footage with the droids and any mention of them or dialogue they have, which helps the tone and flow of the movies a lot. Two things I do think Hal does, however, that’s superior to Q2 are the title crawls and renamed Episode subtitles (eg. “The Approaching Storm”), but those are minor issues for me.
I liken it to this: Q2’s Fall of the Jedi edits are the best, definitive edition, and sort of a “theatrical release”; while Hal’s add extra, albeit OT-spoilery footage in an “extended edition” sort of way. …to me it feels that way.
Basically, Q2’s fan edits won me back over with the Prequels when I hated them. They fix a lot of things wrong with the films and make them into good, solid, watchable experiences. Then, after it was long established that I now liked the prequels, I could then enjoy what could very well be considered as deleted scenes reinserted into Q2’s to make Hal’s extended editions. Hal didn’t outright do that nor intend it, but their storylines don’t contradict each other so it works for me to think of them that way.
That is to say, if you already like the theatrical versions, I suggest either Q2 or Hal9000 or both. If you don’t like the theatrical versions (except for Episode III kind of), I very very highly recommend Q2, because his may just change your mind.
I don’t like L8wrtr’s edits because he kept certain cameos by Greedo and Chewie in Ep’s 1 and 3, which make the galaxy smaller; Yoda escapes from the troopers’ Order 66 with no explanation how he does it (WTF moment, basically); and also because Padme dies. The edited scene where Padme lives is a must have for me at this point (and there are only 2 edits that have this scene: Hal’s, and Q2’s. It was inspired by The Cutter but I don’t think he has a full fan edit release). There are also other reasons I don’t like L8wrtr’s but those come readily to mind as I sit here thinking about it.
I don’t like Kerr’s Episode III because everything is sped up, as though from a PAL transfer. He is the best editor to create a “Sith Reveal” for Palpatine becoming Sidious, but that alone is not enough to ignore the fact that the framerate for the whole film was inexplicably sped up.
I don’t like like Stankpac’s Episode III either, because his latest attempt at a Sith Reveal for Palpatine (while inspired by Kerr) has a poorly done heartbeat and thunderclap added, and his fan editor title card has a mostly naked woman on it, which (as a dad and uncle to kiddos) is not family friendly.